POLITICS FIX. The war of
words over Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohammed Bin Hammam's
seat on the FIFA executive committee reached a new level when the Korea
Football Association threatened to file a complaint about Bin Hammam
with FIFA after he said he was ready to cut off the head of Cho Jung-Yeon, the KFA president.

The KFA is leading a campaign to back Bahrain's Shaikh Salman
bin Ebrahim Al Khalifa in his bid to unseat Bin Hammam on FIFA's
executive committee.

"We strongly criticize Bin Hammam's groundless remarks insulting us and
other AFC members," KFA spokesman You
Young Cheultold
AFP. "The KFA wants an explanation and apology from Bin Hammam over his
remarks, which are improper as AFC head."

Bin Hammam said his remark was a "harmless
and widely used Arabic metaphor" meaning an attempt to thwart someone's
progress. He says he'll quit as AFC president
if he loses his FIFA executive committee seat. Separately, he has
proposed an AFC amendment that make the AFC president the Asian vice
president on the FIFA executive committee -- a seat currently held by
South Korean
Chung Mong Joon.

Seb to the rescue?

ENGLAND. Most sports fans
know Englishman Sebastian Coe
as a former double Olympic track
champion. He's also a political heavyweight, having spearheaded
London's successful campaign to host the 2012
Olympic Games. Last week, he gave up his post as the head of FIFA's
ethics committee to held England's 2018/2022 World Cup bid.

Coe's move is considered a major boost for the England bid. England is
considered a favorite to win the 2018 race, but concerns have been
raised about the ability of Premier League and Football Association
officials to put aside their differences. England's bid for the 2006
World Cup failed badly, and it's worked to improve its international
relations in recent years.

"It is ours for the winning," one senior figure told
the Daily Telegraph earlier this winter, "but I worry that the politics
of the FA could get in the way. It will be a huge disappointment if we
don't get this thing done, but there's a chance we'll mess it up."

What They're Saying

"In the words of Barack Obama, yes we can."

-- Belgian Alain Courtois,
director of the Belgium/Netherlands bid, on coming up with the $1.6
billion needed to raised for the work on stadiums for the 2018/2022
World Cup. (Reuters)

Chicago's choices include Rose Bowl

[2016 U.S. OLYMPIC VENUES]
Chicago, one of four cities bidding for the 2016 Olympic Games, has
named six venues for the soccer preliminary round:

Medal-round matches will be played at Soldier Field in Chicago, part of
the proposed Olympic Waterfront, but matches earlier in the women's and
men's tournaments would be played outside of Chicago.

(Tokyo is given a
slight edge over Madrid with Chicago and Rio de Janeiro also in the
race, which will be decided at an IOC meeting on Oct. 2.)

New JFA boss changes new stance

JAPAN. There appears to be
some confusion about just how seriously Japan is taking its 2018/2022
World Cup bid.

Junji Ogura, Japan's
representative on the FIFA executive committee, previously said that
Japan's bid was conditional on Tokyo being named host of the 2016
Summer Olympics. (Japan doesn't have a stadium that meets FIFA's
requirement of an 80,000-seat stadium for the opening game and final;
Tokyo plans on building a 100,000-seat stadium if it gets the Olympics.)

Motoaki Inukai, who was named
Japan Football Association president last fall, insisted Monday that
his organization might consider a World Cup bid if Tokyo doesn't win
the support of IOC members at the October meeting to pick the 2016
Olympic host.

"Even if [Tokyo's bid] fails it does not mean we will automatically
pull out," Inukai said on Monday.
"We will examine the possibility of hosting the World Cup
independently."